Inset: Thomas Wentzell (Orange County Jail). Background: The home in Windermere, Florida, where Wentzell murdered his wife (Google Maps).
A Florida doctor is headed to prison after he murdered his wife by suffocating her with a pillow and then claimed the injuries he suffered during the attack were from playing with the family dog.
Dr. Thomas Wentzell, 72, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the death of Linda Wentzell at their home in Windermere, a wealthy Orlando suburb. On Tuesday, a judge sentenced the disgraced doctor to 12 years in prison.
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Cops responded to the home on Dec. 2 and found Linda Wentzell dead in the master bedroom lying on her back. Detectives deemed her husband”s statements “inconsistent with their initial findings,” a probable cause arrest affidavit said. They also noted that he had cuts, bruises and abrasions on his face, neck and arms.
Asked to elaborate on the injuries, Thomas Wentzell claimed they came from playing with the family dog. Officers did not arrest him at that point.
However, three days later, cops responded to Thomas Wentzell’s office for a report of suicidal threats, according to the court document, and officers took him to the police station for an interview. After being read his Miranda rights, Thomas Wentzell admitted to killing his wife by suffocating her with a pillow. He stated that he and his wife were the only people inside the home at the time and that he “spontaneously reacted to an argument that had ensued during the night,” the affidavit said.
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Thomas Wentzell was taken into custody and has been at the Orange County Jail ever since.
Neighbors at the time of the murder said the couple was known to fight.
“It’s a very quiet community,” one neighbor told local ABC affiliate WFTV. “The only arguments that I’ve ever heard has came out of that house.”
